Prepare for a taste sensation!!! I’d love to claim this is my recipe because it’s delicious. I wanted some vegetarian inspiration for dinners and Delicious Magazine (whom I worship every month) gave me this. Quick and super tasty.

Courgettes are a new thing for me. Normally avoided, I did get sucked into the courgette spaghetti phase one night last year and was pleasantly surprised by this odd looking little vegetable.

This is a nice alternative to meat for lunch or dinner. I’m not a cheese connoisseur, but give me two slices of grilled halloumi and I will be sorely tempted to eat the whole block (I never have for I am not a ….. glutton….)

Put the onions in the balsamic vinegar for a few minutes. Drain then add the halloumi, aubergine and onion to a baking tray and place under a hot grill until the halloumi starts to bubble and brown slightly.

On your bun, spread some aioli on one side. The grand assembly order I go for:

Woah. It’s been ages since my last post. I vow not to leave it this long again!

This week I’ll be eating a fairly standard dinner for a few nights. Eating the same food for a few days really doesn’t bother me, although I appreciate for some people they need daily variety. Having a pre-planned idea of what I’m eating during the week helps in many ways:

My budget.

Not wasting food.

Saving time, particularly if I can make batches of food that I can prepare in advance.

Pay attention to what I’m eating health wise.

This week, I’ve inadvertently ended up with chicken wraps. It’s got a great balance of vegetables, protein and very low sugar. I liked this combo so much I’m sharing it.

Total cooking time: less than 20 minutes!

Makes: 2 wraps

Ingredients (for the hot stuff)

1 skinless, deboned chicken thigh per wrap (I have precooked a few pieces)

2 multi-seed or wholewheat wrap

1/4 red pepper, sliced

1/4 red onion, sliced

1 glove of garlic, crushed

Small handful of mangetout, sliced

Small dashes of cinnamon, cumin and paprika for smokiness

Ingredients (for the cold stuff)

2 baby tomatoes

2 slices cucumber

1 tbsp sweetcorn (unsweetened, no added salt)

1 tbsp sliced black olives

1 small gherkin (pickled cucumber for the US readers)

1 tbsp cottage cheese

Handful of sliced lettuce

Dash of balsamic vinegar

Method

Gently fry the onion, red pepper and garlic until softened. Add the garlic and spices, cook for a few more minutes.

If you haven’t precooked your chicken, slice and add to the pan until cooked. Like I said, time is key for me so I sliced a precooked chicken thigh and added it to the pan until thoroughly hot.

Add the mangetout towards the end of cooking. It’s a delicate little vegetable that can easily become too limp if cooked too long.

Whilst the hot stuff is cooking, chop the cold ingredients and combine everything in a bowl except the cottage cheese and lettuce. Add a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

Heat up your wrap in the oven according to instructions.

When the chicken is ready, your wrap is warm and the chilled salad mix is ready, start the grand assembly! My preference for ordering is:

Lettuce on, then the salad mix

Add the cooked chicken mix

Top with the tbsp of cottage cheese

Wrap and enjoy 🙂

I’m currently going through a MAJOR sriracha phase – sriracha on everything!!! If you want a bit of a kick, add a little before you wrap and eat – this is where the sugar content of the meal came from and it can easily be left out. Unless you are in the grips of a similar addiction….

It’s the simple food that keeps me happy – and sane. The second wrap will be my lunch tomorrow and I can’t wait.

Enjoy! If you have any suggestions for my new chicken wrap sensation, leave me a comment.

If your baby squid is not quite defrosted, run in under cold water until it’s ready

Gochujang paste is available in Waitrose. From what I can see online, both Tesco and Sainsbury’s stock a sauce but I’d advise sticking to the paste if you can get it purely because the sauces are a lot more liquid which your rice shouldn’t be swimming in

You can use alternatives to non-flavour oil to groundnut such as rapeseed or vegetable oils

METHOD

1. Make sushi rice as per packet instructions – see my drama with this rice below

2. Cut the calamari into rings and soak in the rice wine for 15 minutes. Keep the tentacles, they are also very tasty!

3. Remove the calamari from the rice wine and add the Gochujang paste, sugar, soy sauce and sesame oil to the wine

4. I used a wok here. Heat up the wok with the groundnut oil. I always use a bit of kitchen towel to spread the oil over the entire surface of the wok to coat the pan and allow for the oil to be heated up evenly

5. Stir fry the vegetables for two minutes

6. Add the calamari and cook for two minutes

7. Add the sauce and cook for a further 30 seconds, or until piping hot

Generally I don’t eat refined white breads, rice etc. But sometimes, particularly with curries, basmati rice is my preference. But, despite what I learnt about cooking white rice (thanks, Jamie Oliver), I followed the instructions on the Waitrose pack of sushi rice. No pre-washing, nothing – measure out the rice and water, pop in a pan and wait 18 – 20 minutes.

Waitrose, your instructions for cooking this rice are incorrect. It turned into a soggy mass of starch whilst I stood there the entire cooking time keeping an eye on it.

I hope you try this recipe out. It took under 30 minutes to cook and was delicious, I can foresee this becoming a regular meal for me and I’m looking forward to exploring more ways to cook with Gochujang paste.

This is an old favourite of mine that I’ve made nearly every Christmas for the last few years. It’s no bake (win) and isn’t too sweet. With a chestnut and chocolate centre and a snowy frosting, this dessert looks pretty and wintry.

Serves six to eight

INGREDIENTS

Chocolate Centre

100 dark chocolate (70%) broken into pieces

50g diced unsalted butter

435g chestnut puree

75g golden caster sugar

100g extra thick double cream

1st vanilla extract

Snowy Frosting

1 medium egg

75g sifted icing sugar

25g sifted plain flour

½ tsp vanilla extract

90g unsalted butter

METHOD

1. Set the chocolate and butter over a pan of simmering water and gently melt. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

2. Place the chestnut puree, sugar, cream and vanilla in bowl of a food processor and whizz until creamy. Add the chocolate mixture and mix again until you have a smooth puree.

3. It should be firm enough to shape into a mountain shape, but if not, you can place in the fridge for a few hours until set.

4. To make the frosting, whisk the egg and icing sugar together until smooth, then whisk in the flour. Bring the milk to the boil.

5. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture. Transfer to a non-stick pan and cook on a low heat for a few minutes. Let the mixture bubble (but not boil) and keep stirring to smooth out any lumps.

6. Continue to cook until thickened into custard, pass through a sieve into a bowl. Stir in the vanilla and leave to cool completely.

7. To complete the frosting, beat the softened butter in a bowl until light and creaming. Using a handheld electric whisk, gradually whisk in the cooled custard. Whisk at a low speed to begin with, then on a higher speed for a few minutes until it looks pale and fluffy.

8. Using a palette knife, smooth the frosting over the mountain. Finish with grated white chocolate and a dusting of icing sugar.

It’s best served after about 30 minutes out of the fridge and will keep well for a few days.

Hailing from Sicily, cannoli is one of my favourite pastry sweets. I love it so much that I will go through the hours of preparation to have one! If you’re a cannoli purist, look away now: I use marscarpone, not ricotta. Ricotta does nothing for me, marscarpone is an equally good variant to use.

I’m not sure where I acquired this recipe from, I’ve used it for about four years and it never fails. It’s time consuming but as in all love affairs with food, the end result is worth it. This recipe makes about 15 cannoli tubes which can be stored in an air tight container for up to two months.

Items you will need

Cannoli tubes are essential (I use these– they have a good spring to allow you to pinch the tube and easily slide the cannoli shell off after cooking)

Pasta machine

3.5 – 5 inch diameter pastry cutter

Pastry brush (if you haven’t already, get silicone!)

Ingredients: shells

190g white flour

25 white sugar

3g ground cinnamon

20g butter (or shortening)

1/2 egg

1/2 egg yolk

60ml sweet Marsala wine

8ml distilled white vinegar

30ml water

1/2 egg white

470ml oil for frying

Ingredients: filling*

*this will fill about four cannoli, so adjust accordingly to how many you plan to eat. And DON’T fill the cannoli in advance of eating as this results in the pasty becoming damp and you will lose the lovely crunch of the shell.

250g full fat marscarpone

3 tsps icing sugar (adjust the sweetness to suit you, anything more for me is too sweet and ruins the taste of the marscarpone)

Chocolate pieces (cut up small, I use 65% dark)

Ground pistachios for the edges

Now, prepare yourself for a few hours of preparation and fun!

In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar and cinnamon. Cut the butter into the bowl (no bigger than pea size). Make a well in the centre and pour in the egg, egg yolk, Marsala wine, vinegar and water.

2. Mix with a fork until the dough becomes stiff, then finish off by hand, kneading for about ten minutes on a clean surface. Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

3. Divide the cannoli dough into thirds and flatten each one just enough to get through the pasta machine. Roll the dough through the setting until you get to the machine’s thinnest setting. (Dust with flour if it’s sticking) Place the sheet of dough on a lightly floured surface and use the pastry cutter to cut out circles. Dust the circles with a light coating of flour and roll the pastry around the cannoli tubes, sealing the edge with a bit of egg white.

4. Heat the oil to 190 degrees C. Fry the shells on the tubes a few at a time for 2 to 3 minutes until golden. Use tongs to turn the shells if needed. Carefully remove the shells from the tubes and place on a cooling rack over paper towels.

Mix up the filling. You can of course use whatever filling you like, if you don’t mind ricotta then that’s the more traditional filling. Candied fruits are quite popular decoration, I LOVE pistachio so I prefer to have that on edges of the filled shells.

A couple of weeks ago, I joined some colleagues for dinner after work at a Korean restaurant, Bibigo. With no live baby octopus on the menu, and I can’t say I was disappointed, we proceeded to have a thoroughly delicious, filling dinner.

At excellent value for money – three courses for a mere £13 – we tucked into fabulous tastes from a preset dinner menu. My stomach lovedthese dishes.

Course One: Korean Chopped Salad

A very understated looking salad, but an absolute winner with those of us that ate it. Hints of sesame dashed with crispy fried spring roll pastry and soy dressing.

Course Two: Baby Squid

I’m a huge fan of squid in any form (dead, preferably). Served with lemon and a tiny bit of okra.

Course Three: Grilled Chicken

Beautiful with delicate rocket and some steamed riced on the side.

Bibigo’s has two restaurants in the UK, both in London (Soho and Angel). The gorgeous food aside, the Angel restaurant is super stylish and the staff are attentive.

Good to know:

My pet hate is the assumption of any restaurant to add a 12.5% service charge. Bibigo’s is no different so it expect to see it on the bill.

You’re presented with chop sticks and a single silver spoon, get acquainted with the sticks ahead of your adventure!

This lovely casserole recipe comes from Delicious Magazine’s November issue. And it’s divine! The recipe makes enough for four portions – if you’re like me and feeding one, it made a great heated up dinner on the first working day of the week. It can also be frozen.

INGREDIENTS

1 tbsp olive oil

6 British sausages cut into chunks (I went for Toulouse sausages)

2 onions, sliced

2 garlic gloves, crushed

4 fresh thyme sprigs

400g tin chopped tomatoes

200ml chicken stock

2x 400g tins chick peas, drained and rinsed

200g baby / young spinach

Squeeze fresh lemon juice

METHOD

Heat the oil in a frying pan or cast iron casserole dish and brown all over, turning occasionally. Set aside on a plate.

Turn the heat down to medium and fry the onions for about 8 to 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and thyme, lower the heat and cook for a further two minutes.

Add the chopped tomatoes and chicken stock to the pan with the sausages and chickpeas. Stir well and bring everything to a gentle simmer. Cook for 15 minutes until the sauce has reduced and slightly thickened.

You can place the spinach in a colander and pour a kettleful of boiling water over it, or simply mix the spinach into the mix as I did.

It’s very filling and super tasty!

Oh, and if you haven’t already learnt this: to soften onions without burning them, place a lid on the pan – it works wonders 🙂